Line casting machine



Jan. 5, 1932. J, MGNAMARA I LINE CASTING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet O N e N1 N@ @xl www. N`

TTO NE YY am 5 1932 .1. G. MCNAMARA LINE CASTING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN] 0R M MM irefsra'res ,JAMES e. McNAMAaA, OF BROOKLYN, NNW- YOBII, .essIeNOa To MERGENTIIALER LINOTYPI; COMPANY, A CORPORATION' OF NNW. YORK LINE oAsTING MACHINE Appucationmeanarcn 2o, 1.930. seal No. 4517.294.

rlhis invention relates to line casting Inachines of the general organization represented in U. Letters'PatenttoO Mergenthaler,` No. 436,532, whereinr circulating ,rg matricesare selected and assembled 'in line tocast is made variable in length, and one ofV the confining jaws is also made adjustable to correspond, so that lines of one length or` another may be used at will. VvOrdinarily, the movable jaw banks directly against one end of a toothed rod by which it is sustained during justification of the line, the said rod being rigidly supported in the vise fram-e but 13 capable of lonfritudinal adjustment to locate the movable jaw in its different positions.

TWhile such arrangement of 'the parts answers all requirements of theart, includ# ing that of permitting the movable jaw torbe out disturbing the 'original adjustment of the toothed rod (as may frequently be desired when casting blank slugs) these toothedv rods may protrude from oneto five inches beyond the leftend of the vise cap in the regular 30 em machines and fromone to seven inches in the special 42 em machines, accordingV to the length of the lines Vbeing cast, andv are thus not only in themselves exposed to in andaround machines.

The present lnvention'is intended to obviate these and other difficulties and at the same time enable the operator Vwhile seated at the` 45 keyboard to adjust the movableA jaw to` any `facility as heretofore.

shifted over against the opposing jaw withdamage but seriously obstruct the passage required measure with the same speed and To Athis end, thetoothed rod is lixedly mounted and confined entirely within the limits of the vise frame, and the ni'ovable Vjaw is supported, not by the roddirectly, but by an intermediate sustaining member which is adjustable along the rod and is movableat will'into and out of locking engagement therewith.y The operal tion of the said sustaining member is con-V trolled by a second rod'concealed mostly with!" inthe vise cap andjextending somewhat beyondthe same at the rightso as to bein plain View 'f and 1 4within Convenient reach of 'the operator while seated atk the keyboard. f

In the preferred embodiment of the .inven. tion illustrated, the sustaining member is mounted `in a slide or carriage 'to which the in; ner end'of the operating rod is connected, and the 4vlatter is providedwit'h an eccentric pin adapted by a half-turn of the rod iii-oppositev directions to actuate said 'memben At its opposite end, the operating rod is flattened'or recessed' at the Vfront and back so as to accom` modate a pair'of invertedV scales, graduated in emsfand fractionstbereof, whiclimay be 'read-in' conjunction with a fixed indicating finger orpointer as the rod is movedendwisef to adjust the slide and the'sustainingmember.

In the Vaccom an *inO' drawin s the invention has been shown merely in preferred form and by way of example, but obviously many changes and variations may be made therein and in its mode 'of application whichwill' still be comprised within its spirit.` Itshould,`

therefore, be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific form 'or lembodiment except in so far as such limitations are specified inthe claims. :f

Referring" to the drawings 'Y Figl is a top plan View showing the im# proved means-forY adjusting the left hand line confining aw, the supporting frame beling indicated by brokenlines; v

Fig. 2 isi-a fr'ont'view of the parts shown ltion C of the so-called vise trame.

in Fig. l, but partly in section to show the manner of mounting the toothed rod;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. u;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the exposed end of the operating rod to show7 the scale attached to the back oi' said rod; and Y Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the scale attached to the front of the operating rod.

A composed line of matrices and spacers when presented at the casting level is confined endwise Abetween a pair of vise jaws A, B, which are carried respectively by angularv blocks A1, B1, mounted in a stationary por- The block A1 is formed withbearing portions A2, A3, slidably mounted in suitable guideways C? (F ig. 3), so that the left-hand jaw A mayy be moved horizontally toward and from the lined-opposing right-hand aw B to vary the dista-nce` therebetween according tol the length of the matrix lines employed.V

In order that justification of the lines may take place properly, it is necessary that the jaw A be located at the proper distance. trom the opposing jaw to receive a line ot a given measure and be supported in such position, s0 as to sustain the line when the spacers are expanded. This is usually accomplished by thevr use of a round toothed rod D against which the jaw abuts and which may be` adjusted endwise and locked in the diiiereiit positions required. Y

In the present instance, however, this rodV D is relatively fixed or substantially so (beV ingcapable only of the slight endwise movement necessary to relieve a justied line from, the. pressure of the jaws immediatelyafter the casting operation) ,A and is ormedvas usual` (see particularly Figs. l and 2), throughout a given portion of its length with circuinlierv'- ential teeth cl, the rod being mounted in hor-i-, zontal bearings C2, C3, spaced apart and,v projecting rearwardly from a bracket C1 secu-red to the vise frame C. j

The bearing C2 is split and provided with a screw bushing C5, which is anchored therein by means of a clamping screw c. AtA its, outer end,y the bushing C5 is formedv with al knurled head portion CG and, for reasons,y aboutv to appear, terminates at its opposite end slightly beyond the inner side 'of the bearing C2. At a point between the' said bearings and immediately adjacent the bearing C3, the rod D isprovided with a collar D?.

keyed .thereto by a pin d1 and abutting.

against a vertical reciprocating wedge E, the latter. being supported acewise by the inner end ofthe bushing Cfthroughan intermedi-` ate anti-wear shoe El, whichI serves alsoY to guide the wedge in its vertical movements.

The. collar D1 is heldresiliently' engaged with the wedge E by a compression spring C7 seated in a recess c1 of the bearing C3 and which tends tokeep the iod D in its normal position. In rising, the wedge E is adapted to move the rod D slightly to the right against the tension or the spring C7 so as to position the jaw A exactly to measure preparatory to the eXpansion'o the line between the jaws, and in descending, the wedge allows the spring to retract the rod D a similar distance in order that the line may be lifted readily :trom between the jaws for distribution, im-

Y mediately after the slug has been cast.

Occasionally, bastard slug measures are desired, which require an auxiliary adjustment of the lett-hand jaw A in fractions other than a half-em, and at such times the clamping screw c in the bearing c1 is loosened and the bushing C5 by means of the knurled knob C6 is turned to adjust the rod in one direction or the other to the slight extent desired. Accuracy in such adjustments is obtained by the use of a dial4 plate CS with which the bushing C5 is'usualiy provided and which is read in connection with an appropriate mark on the bearing C?.

The means employed 'for adjustin0f the jaw A to standard slug measures, which latter may vary in ems and halt` ems from one to five or from one to seven inches in the ditferent commercial machines, and the means for locking the j aw in its adjusted positions, will now be described. l/Vhile the rod D is fixed, it is adaptedA nevertheless, as before stated, to takevthe thrust of the jaw A indi rectl'y through an intermediate sustaining member F, which, according to the present invention, is mounted independently ot the jaw A in such manner that it may be adjusted along the rod D and moved into and out of locking engagement therewith.

As best shown in Figs. 3 taining member F is mounted in a carriage or slide G arranged at the left of the supporting block A1 of the jaw A and formed with a bearing portion G1 which, like the bearing portions of the block A1, is mounted in the guideways C1 of the vise traine C. The carriage G is formed in its bottom face with a F is confined and which is provided with a retaining pla-te G3 for holding the said meinber in place. At its rear end,'the sustaining member F is formed with a head portion oi' block F1 presenting a horizontal halr" round toothed concavit'y F2 and 'a square banking surface 7, the latter being aligned with thev and 4, the sus-V xii of the carriage Gr could be used for that purose. l

When the member F is moved forwardly, Vits engagement with the `toothed rod Dv is broken to permit the carriage Gr to be shifted horizontallyin the guideways C1 for setting the jaw A in the desired position, but when the member F is moved rearwardly', it is caused to re-engage the Vrod D so as to sus tain the jaw A. in the shifted 'position of the carriage G. in' this connection, it may be observed that the jaw A is formed with a bottom recess a to clear the rod D and is mounted independently of the carriage G,

so that in the production of slugs of any given measure, it may be moved at will from a normal position against the sustaining member F over against the opposing jaw B to permit casting of blank'slugs and then moved back toits original position, without necessitating a readjustment of the carriage and sustain ing member, as might otherwise be required.

` The 'shifting ofthe carriage Gr and the operation of the Vmember F is effected by means of a horizontal actuating rod H which is concealed mostly within the Avise frame C, but which extends somewhat beyond the same at the right so as to bey in plain view vand within convenient reach of the operator while seated at the keyboard. As best shown in Fig. 4, the rod H at its Vinner end is journalled `inthe-carriage Gr and'near its outer V'end is similarly supported in a bearingplate C9 secured to the vise frame C. Although freely rotatable in the carriage G, the rod H is anchored thereto against any other relative movement and hence is capable, when moved endwise to and fro in the bearing plate C9, of shifting the carriage in the guideways C1. rFhis connection, as herein illustrated, is established by means of a retaining plateGr4 fastened to one side of the carriage G and shaped to it over the rod H into an annular groove L formed therein.V The movement of the carriage G and rod H toward the left is limited by a stop pin g projecting from the opposite side of the carriage and arranged to contact with the fixed bracket C3, while the movement of said parts toward the right is limited by the jaw B through the jaw A and the block F1 of the sustainingmember F The inner end of therod H terminates immediately adjacent the sustaining member F and is `provided withV an eccentric pin h1 located in a vertical Ynotch f1 formed in said member', the arrangement being such that when said rod is given a halfY turn in a counter-clockwise direction the member F will be moved rearwardly intoA locking engagement with the rod D, and when the rod Y is given a similar turn in the other direction the member F will be retracted to break its engagement with the rod. The rotary movement of the rod Hin both directions is arrested by a stop pin g1 (shown by dotted lines in Fig; 3),v and the sustaining member FA is maintained yieldingly in its locked or unlocked position yby a detent G5, the latter (see Fig. 4) being alsomountedy in the carriage G and arranged to engage one or the other of a-palr of 'recesses ,f2-#7, formed in the side face of the sustaining member.,` Y Y j. To facilitatethe operations of the rod H, it is provided at its outer extremity with a small crank handle k71.2, which, incidentally, permits considerable leverage to be manually applied'when turning the rod to move the member F into and out of engagement with the toothed rod D. Consequently, and since the toothed rod D (as may. also be observed) is comparatively small in cross-section and projects fromisix to eight inches beyond its point of support, it would be likely to yield under 'the contact `with the member F if the teeth of the latter, asV a result of an inaccurate adjustment of the carriageG, fail to register properly' with the teeth el of said` rod. 1n such event, the sustaining member would probably slip back a tooth during justication and require a readjustment of the parts. For this reason, the carriage G is formed with an'arm G6 (Figs. l, V anda) through which the rod D is passed and which is intended to give Athe latter the rigidity required. I-

In order to determine the position of the carriage G- and the sustaining member F with reference to the rod D whenV the rod H is moved bodily endwise, two scales H1, H2, of the ordinary type and graduated lin ems and half'ems are'secured in shallow longitudinal recesses 7a3 form'ed'inthe front and Vrear sides of the -rod H at the right end thereof. It will be `noted (see Figs. 5 and 6) that the two scales are arranged in inverted relation to eachother and are adapted to be read separately in connection with an-indicating finger or pointer c2 secured to the bearing Vplate G9, the scale Hlbeing visible in the normal position of thepartsto determine a previous setting ofthe Ysustaining member F, and the scale H2 being brought into view by a half rotation/of the'rod Htodetermine the position of 'said member during its adjustn ment.

`vvllftwill now be seen, according to therforegoing arrangement, that when an adjustment of the left-hand aw A is required, it is merely necessary to give the operating rod H a half turn, move it bodilyT endwise, and then turn it back to its original'position. By the iirst operation, the eccentric Apin hl swung downy wardly and 'forwardly so as towithdrawthe sustaining member F from engagement with the toothed rod D, and as the pin tlbanks against the stop pin g1, the detent G5 'enters the recess f3 and holds the sustaining member in its disengaged position (see dotted lines, Fig.. rllhe carriage G may then, by the second operation,be shifted in the gui-deways C1 without danger of interference between the teeth of the sustaining member F and the rod D, and with the aid of the scale H2 and the pointer ci', adjusted to any predetermined position with the sustaining member F in operative relation to the rod D. By the third and final operation, the movement of the eccentric pin h1 is reversed and the sustaining member F is pushed thereby rearwardly to reengage the teeth al of the rod D. The scale H1 at the same time is brought again into View, and the detent G5 by its engagement with the recess f2 serves to restrain the member F against accidental displacement from its loclred position. l/Vhile there are .thus three distinct operations performed in setting the adjustable jaw in a new position, these operations are all carried out by the use of `a single operating member, and may be performed with one hand without requiring the operator to leave his seat at the keyboard.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a line casting machine, the combination of an adjustable line conning jaw, a relatisiely fixed toothed rod, and an intermediate member mounted independently of the jaw for sustaining the latter in different adjusted. positions, said sustaining member being adjustable lengthwise of and relative to the toothed rod ancl'movable .into and out of locking engagement therewith.

In a line casting machine, the combination of an adiustable line confining va relatively fixed toothed rod, an intermediate member mounted independently of the jaw and adjustable lengthwise of andk relative to the toothed rod for sustaining the jaw in different adjusted positions and movable in to and out of locking engagement with the toothed rod, and means for operating said sustaining member.

3. In a line casting machine, the combination of an adjustable line confining jaw, a

5 relatively fixed toothed rod, an intermediate member mounted independently of the jaw and adiustable lengthwise of and relative to the toothed rod for sustaining the av.'v indifferent adjustedr positions and movable into and out of locking engagement with `the toothed rod, and unitary means for adjustlocking' and unlocking said sustaining member.

4. In a line casting machine, the combination of an adjustable line confining jaw, a relatively fixed toothed rod, an intermediate adjustable member mounted independently of the jaw for sustaining the latter in different adjusted positions and'movable into and out ot locking` engagement with the toothed rod` and an operating rod rotatable at will to lock and unlocl the sustaining` member and movable endwise to efiect its adjustment'.

5. In a line casting ma.chine,-the combination of an adjustable line confining jaw, a

rod.

6. In a line casting machine, the combination of an adjustable line confining jaw, a relatively lined toothed rod, an intermediate sustaining member tor the aw, an. adjustable slide wherein said member movably mounted, an eccentric tor moving the sustaining member into and out of locking engagement with the toothed rod, and means for adjusting the slide and operating the eccentric.

T. A combination as specified in claim l, characterized by the fact that the toothed rod therein recited is round in cross-section and formed with annular teeth, and that the said sustaining member is `1formed with a corresponding toothed cavity adapted to mesh or interlock with l,the teeth ot' Athe rod.

S. In a line casting machine, the combination of an adjustable li confining jaw, a relatively [fixed toothedrod, an intermediate sustainine' member for. `he jaw, an adjustable slide wherein said member is inoyably mounted, and an operating rod movable endwise to efiect the adjustmentsof the slide and rotatable to move the sustaining member into and out or" locking` engagement with the toothed rod.

9. A combination as specified in claim 8, characterized by the fact .that the operating rod therein recited is provided with an eccentric pin adapted by a partial rotation orp the rod in opposite directions to move the sustaining member into and out of locking engagement withthe toothed rod.

l0. In a line casting machine, the combination of a vise frame, a line conhning jaw ad- Vjustably mounted therein, a relatively fixed toothed rod,'a slide also mounted in the vise trame, a sustaining member for the aw movably mounted in the slide and formed with teeth to cooperate ywith those of said rod, and an operating rod movable endwise to adjust the slide and adapted by a halt1 rotation in opposite directions to move the sustaining f member into and ont of locking engagement ll. A combination specified-in claim l0, characterized by the fact that the operating rod therein recited is extended beyond the vise Yframe and previ ded on its front and rear edges with a pairof scales arranged in inverted-relation to each other, for the purpose described. i'

l2. A, combination as speciiied in claim l0, characterized by the fact that the operating rod therein recitedis round in cross-section `and slidably mounted in albearing block secured to the vise frame, and that the bearing block isprovided with an indicating finger or pointer arranged to cooperate with scales carried by the operating rod.

13. A combination as specied in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the toothed rod is adjustable endWise for bastard settings of the vise jaw. v

14. A combination as specied in claim 10, characterized by the fact that the toothed rod is supported between its ends to give it the required rigidity.

In testimony whereof, this specicationhas 5 been duly signed by:

1 JAMES G. MGNAMARA- 

